Ghoulmaster's Ghosts: The Beginning
by Drumboy100
Summary: This is the story of how Ghoulmaster's Ghosts came together to eventually became a hit show at Six Flags Great Adventure: Fright Fest.


I sighed wearily, finally putting my brush down in resignation. Even after all this time, it's hard to comprehend that my good looks are gone, truly gone, and will never be coming back. Women will never turn their heads again when I pass by. That was the basis of my identity and self-worth for my entire life. And since it's gone, what is my identity now? Who am I? If the sight of my rotting, decaying flesh doesn't send them running, then surely the associated smells will.

I felt a playful blow of breath in my ear. I offered a tight lipped smile and waved in the mirror. "Thanks, girlie," I whispered, knowing who it is even though she's invisible when not in her bodily form. Annabel and I share an acute understanding of each other's pain, as vanity was our undoing both in life and in death. She is more deserving of sympathy, however, as she died in her attempts to please only the man she loved. My death occurred when the wrong woman discovered that she had never been the only one.

I rose from my mirror, restless for a distraction, and shifted into my spirit form as I went downstairs. I should do a walk around the park. Fortunately, watching happy families tends to cheer me up, not make me jealous. The park tends to run pretty smoothly by itself, but we all like to do our own safety checks on the rides, and also use whatever influence we have to make the Six Flags experience more enjoyable for our guests. I smiled inwardly as I remembered sending that gust of wind to knock off a security guard's hat at just the right time and in just the right direction to finally get his attention. An especially obnoxious group of teenagers was finally ejected from the park without a refund for line cutting.

I was about to pass through the wall to the outside when Johnny came running toward me, grabbing my arm and doubling over in laughter. Hiding my annoyance, I waited for him to catch his breath, although the corners of my mouth began to turn upward despite myself. "What is it, man?"

Johnny attempted to take deep breaths and held his side, eventually managing, "Billasty, someone—or a group of people—turned all the direction signs every which way in the park. People are standing there with their maps, trying desperately to figure out where they're going, while staff members are drawing it out for them. But whoever did that must have also done the other prank—they put up five Free Parking Today signs all along the driveway to the park!" He wheezed again, overcome with mirth, oblivious to my tense body language. "The Board will only be mildly annoyed and embarrassed about the directional signs, but they can't false advertise, so now they've just lost $25 per car all day long! Thousands and thousands of dollars! They must be _seething_ with wrath!"

I glanced behind me and, as bad luck would have it, saw Ghoulmaster sitting in a far corner, working on one of his undisclosed projects. He sat rigidly, absorbing this news, a muscle jerking angrily in his jaw. "We'll assess the situation, Ghoulmaster," I said, a bit too confidently, and pulled Johnny out of the house with me and into the sunny, slightly chilly New Jersey September air.

"Walk with me," I hissed, almost dragging him past Batman the Ride. "In a few minutes, I will also see the humor in this situation, but right now I have to enlighten you about why you should never, ever, _ever_ joke about a subject matter like this in Ghoulmaster's presence again."

"What? Why? What did I do now?" he almost whined. I still instinctively walked around the mortals, but he carelessly passed through them without even turning his head, which is what he must have done when he came to his jaywalking demise. He ran his hand through his hair in exasperation at my words. I softened toward him, stopping in front of Skull Mountain and putting a hand on each of his arms briefly to turn him to face me. Johnny would never admit his vulnerability, but despite his tough talk and aloof exterior, I could tell that he didn't want to seriously offend any of us. Or our unspoken house culture.

"Sorry, I'll start over," I began, not wanting Johnny on the defensive. "Ghoulmaster has just a few subjects that we've found tend to make him a little touchy. If you're brave, you can mention them in all seriousness and at the right time, but the rest of us tread very softly or not at all. Really, though-Ghoulmaster _loves_ this park. It's the meaning that he's created out of this…wandering existence that we're all in." I squeezed my eyes shut briefly.

When I opened them, Johnny stood in front of me, an understanding look on his face. Now _this_ was a subject that we all only discussed on very good or very bad days. The fact was, there was an awful lot about this strange afterlife existence that we all didn't know. Most people who die are no longer walking on this earth, but those of us who do, have no idea why. We can't fly and we don't have many special powers. Those of us who are foolish enough to attract the attention of mortals, also attract the attention of the mortal hunters, who know how to swiftly and easily send us into the "next" realm…but, as we have no idea exactly what kind of world that might be, we all do the same thing we did during life: wander.

I continued. "All I'm saying is, don't joke about the safety of this park. You've only been with us a couple of months now, so I guess nothing like this has ever come up. Speak about the park respectfully, be very careful what you say about the guests, things like that."

Johnny eyed me suspiciously, then decided to bring up what was on his mind. "What does Ghoulmaster think of me?"

"He likes you fine. I'm sure you've noticed that he tends to only speak when he really has something to say. He's not much for pep talks, but trust me, he's fiercely loyal, and…he's someone I'm proud to be in this kind of arrangement with."

Johnny shifted uncomfortably, probably not used to serious conversations. "This _is_ a very strange arrangement. I can't believe I signed a contract, acknowledging to obey without question or hesitation, even agreeing to submit to whatever punishment he deems necessary if I slip up. I'm just trying this out for a while, seeing if you guys really have something special going on here or not."

"Obviously, I think we do. But we've had plenty of people come and go over the years as well, and it's your choice. The second you opt out, Ghoulmaster will give you your...collateral…back, and you'll be free to go." I shudder involuntarily at the thought of that collateral getting into the wrong hands. I would only ever trust Ghoulmaster with mine. It was a condition getting into this house that he take each of ours and put it in a secret location, as a symbol of our trust and commitment. "Anyway…" a smile played at the corner of my lips…"You may be the jokester of the house now, but you're still a breath of fresh air to Ghoulmaster after the twenty-one years we spent with Raven Stone."

Chapter 2

Eventually I completed my walk around the park, remembering to keep my promise to assess the situation, but found nothing out of the ordinary. The employees had corrected the directional signs. I jumped over the fence at Rolling Thunder and climbed onto the steps at the first incline, watching the excited faces and hearing the whispered expletives as the chain pulled up train after train of guests. The wood shook slightly, and I felt the wind through my hair. I climbed higher and surveyed the park until closing time.

My fellow ghosts and I had only this week put up the decorations for the upcoming Fright Fest. Now that we're only open on weekends, we're able to help out with more tasks whenever the security cameras can look the other way. I miss the daily excitement, though. And when we shut down for the winter…we all find different ways to cope with it.

Ironically, I hated Halloween. It perpetuates myths about us, but the real issue is that it glamorizes the spirit world. My life is certainly not bad, but it is repetitive, and the thought it not having an end…

I stood up and jumped, landing hard on my side but feeling no pain in this spirit form. It had taken me a few years after my death to gather up the courage to do that. I broke into a run, not wanting to be late for our nightly meeting.

"I'm sure that it was just pranks," Elissa was saying in an assertive voice as I walked in and changed to my bodily form, taking a seat on our raggedy couch. We don't update our clothes or furniture because it would make us look worse by comparison. I saw her breath hitch as I entered the room, and I masked my pain. Females used to gasp when I entered the room, yes, but it was not due to the stench of my rotting flesh.

Ghoulmaster stared into the fireplace, an intense and determined look on his face. "Maybe. I'm not convinced," he said softly, an edge to his voice.

"The security tapes were inconclusive, but you know how terrible our equipment is. I've been begging them to update it for years. Now I know it won't happen for a while, because…funds might be a little lower than usual today." Her eyes twinkled.

The rest of us sat scattered around the foyer/living room, waiting to speak until spoken to. Elissa may have bantering privileges with Ghoulmaster, but all average ghosts present only wanted to contribute facts, not opinions. I stole a look at Norma. I knew that it was a condition in her contract that she will never have to speak at all, and she hasn't so far except to Ghoulmaster when needed. I wondered when she arrived here if she would have a special understanding with our leader, as they both were extremely private and with limited words, but that doesn't seem to be the case so far.

Ghoulmaster unclenched his jaw and looked up. "What did you all find out? Anything?"

I must not have been the only one on a mission today. Feeling useless, I shook my head along with everyone else. "No."

"I don't see any way that you could have prevented this." Elissa addressed all of us. "Everything is fixed, and the park is just mostly annoyed that they lost a little money." Elissa frequently brought us interpretations like this from the park's "higher ups." Most of the board members knew about us, although over the years became more and more distant. Some had even begun doubting our existence as the park's protectors, which was sad but perhaps a good thing, as hunters would become aware if our relationship with the mortals became too cozy. Now, this overnight security guard served as our liaison, and was the only mortal that we truly considered a friend.

"Alright." These meetings were usually had a lighter tone, but not tonight. I stayed seated for this conversation until the meeting dispersed.

Chapter 3

_Dynasty_! I froze from my position at El Toro, assessing whether the girls' miniskirts were originally sold as headbands. The latest train had gotten stuck on the initial incline, but this happens almost daily. I knew that the guests would only be afraid if it took more than a minute to right itself.

_What is it, bro?_ I usually love to make fun of Falcon's accent, but he sounded urgent, even…frightened.

_Where are you? Did a coaster just stop?_

_Yeah, I'm at El Toro, what's going on?_

_Look around…_

And I did, and if I had a heart, it would have stilled. Every single roller coaster in the park was stopped on the incline.

_I'm at the merry-go-round, and it slowed down and then started…going backwards._ "Madame" Pestis sounded hesitant, confused.

_Everyone_! Ghoulmaster used telepathy on all of us at once. _Make sure the guests are safe where you are, then come back to the house!_

Twelve minutes later, with the rides shut down to further activity and guests confused and excited, the situation was sufficiently under control that I followed the rest of my order.

Chester was on my heels, stuttering something incoherently, as we almost tripped over ourselves getting back to the fireplace. It took me a long time to get used to his style of communication, but after he grew on me, I can't imagine life here without his innocent frankness and side comments. Ghoulmaster glared downward, pacing in agitation with his hands rigidly by his sides. "Do you two have any additional updates that I should know about?" he questioned without missing a step.

"Not from me—nothing after all the coasters jammed at the same time." Chester nodded as I spoke, wide-eyed in agreement. The arrival of Annabel completed our group, and we all quickly took seats: me, Shadow Falcon, Chester, "Madame" Pestis, Annabel, Norma, and Johnny "Jaywalker," in order of who arrived first in the house. I like to think that I am something approximating Ghoulmaster's right-hand man, as I've been in the house the longest (over thirty years, starting from only a few years after the park originally opened), but no one really knew what went on in Ghoulmaster's head.

"So the coasters, plus the merry-go-round—nothing else, as far as we know?" His voice was raspy, husky.

We agreed. I stole a glance at "the Madame," as I like to call her due to her irritation at the title's connotations. I am tempted to ask her why she did not prevent this situation, as she obviously must have seen it coming from her tarot cards and crystal ball, but I wisely refrain. Despite the evidence of the last few hundred years of her undead existence, she really does seem to think that she has some kind of control over our spirit realm that the rest of us don't.

Ghoulmaster grabbed a chair roughly, turning it around and sitting down. Sparks flew from his eyes. "What do we think is going on here? I have a hard time believing that one of the mechanics with a vendetta is behind all this."

The front door opened and Elissa skidded in, taking a moment to catch her breath before looking around the room. "Where are you guys? Are you all here? We have to talk."

Immediately we all changed into our bodily forms. She rushed over and took a seat on the couch. "I'm assuming from your faces that you know about the rides?"

"The coasters and the merry-go-round, yes," Falcon responded.

"Well…there's more." She let out a breath and looked our master in the eye. "You may have been right, and I may have been wrong, that there is more going on here than we realize. The animals have been acting…peculiarly…recently."

Ghoulmaster's eyes blazed as he waited for her to continue.

"We thought they were just skittish or nervous yesterday, like maybe bad weather was coming. But their behavior was more agitated this morning, and then the growls started around lunchtime, and several groups of animals started moving closer and closer to the safari vehicles. Finally one of the zebras started pawing the ground, acting like it was backed into a corner and about to strike…and if even such a mild animal like a zebra was starting to act like that…that was the last vehicle they let through."

Falcon let out a sharp breath and leaned back, crossing his arms.

"Of course, the guests' safety is the most important thing, but there was a very large, very angry group of guests that had been waiting almost three hours to get on that new safari ride, so I was called in to specially to deal with that, and it's taken me and a team until just now to placate them with apologies and vouchers and coupons." Elissa rubbed her temples briefly, and I noticed the bags under her eyes. She was used to only working the overnight shift.

"There's something else." Ghoulmaster said it as a statement.

"Yes, there is." She glanced at each of us in turn, uncomfortable but wanting to at least give her news respectfully. "A lot of the park managers are suspecting that you all have something to do with this."

Silence greeted this news, then various noises of disbelief and disgust. Falcon arose and stood behind the couch, restless.

Ghoulmaster held up a hand. "That is certainly a logical mortal conclusion. Everything is happening too quickly, too perfectly for them not to suspect something supernatural."

"Supernatural, yes, but they assume that we're all the same. Why would their own protectors suddenly turn on them unprovoked after almost 40 years?" Falcon snapped at the room in general.

"And it would have been nice to approach us directly about this," Annabel commented dryly.

"But they didn't," Ghoulmaster responded abruptly. He turned to Elissa. "I'm sure you would do us the favor of advocating on our behalf that we were not involved in this, and that we will attempt to find out what's going on and prevent any further events."

"Yes, of course."

Johnny began, "And that plus a dollar will get us a cup of—"

Ghoulmaster shook his head. "I'm aware of that. But now we're put in an awkward position of needing to be on the offensive and the defensive at the same time. We have to get involved and find out what's going on while proving that we are not the ones behind this. For now…Elissa, can you get us the security footage from the past few days?"

She shrugged. "Sure, but not legally. You'll have to wait until I'm on shift and can get away from my colleagues, maybe 1:00 this morning."

"Good. We'll spend the night here together, looking it over and determining if we can find anything that the others didn't. And for tonight…" Ghoulmaster leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. "Everyone is forbidden to leave this house or this room. We'll turn on our security camera and remain in bodily form so that if any mischief happens tonight, we'll hand over proof that we were all here together, all night."

"What if something happens tonight, and we can't go out and investigate?" Annabel asked.

"That's why we can only stay together in this house at night. No matter what goes on at night, the guests' safety will not be compromised. We'll have to trust the mortal security guards. During the day, we will all have to be at our stations throughout the park. Of course, communicate with me first if something comes up and anyone feels the need to break either of these rules, and I will make all final decisions."

I looked around the room. Most people appeared to accept this news mildly, with the Madame and Falcon looking somewhat frustrated. Norma had her poker face on as usual. I personally didn't think that the mortals would be impressed with our attempt at an alibi, but then again, why would any more occurrences happen at night, with no audience? I resolved to focus my hardest while reviewing the tapes tonight. A team of seven ghosts would be a lot more likely to find and interpret supernatural manipulation than a group of ten-dollar-an-hour mortals.

"Be back here at 11:30, after we all make sure the guests have gotten out of the park safety," Ghoulmaster stressed. "And be brainstorming theories of what's going on. We have until the footage arrives to discuss each person's opinion."

I went back to patrolling, observing silently that I had never heard Ghoulmaster speak so many words as he did in the last ten minutes.

Chapter 4

_Falcon! _I hissed mentally._ Idiot!_

He didn't respond.

_Talk to me! Maybe I can give an excuse to the others!_

I heard the sound of rapid, excited breathing, and then a disjointed explanation. _Somebody's out here, it's a ghost! You all would never get here in time—_

I waited, looking apprehensively at the others. The clock flashed 11:48 p.m., a repeated reminder of my companion's tardiness. We stood in uncomfortable silence as the tension radiated off Ghoulmaster's body. He stood with an elbow on the mantel and his eyes closed, perfectly still.

At 11:26, when the guests were out of the park but in the parking lot, three rides had mysteriously turned on by themselves at the same time: the ferris wheel, the parachutes, and Kingda Ka. Three of the tallest rides in the park…so they would be able to be seen from the farthest possible distance. Ice cream truck music had also been cranked up to an unbearable volume and blasted through the speakers for ten minutes. Fortunately, we were all inside our house at that time, so we couldn't be blamed. All of us except one.

I could barely process the content of Falcon's speech. I was instead focused on gathering up my nerve to speak in some manner that would not make it worse for my friend. Hearing nothing further from him, I straightened and took a few steps to the fireplace. "Ghoulmaster, I…I heard from Falcon."

He opened his eyes and slowly turned his head toward me. "So…he responds to you and not to me."

I couldn't answer that, so just continued. "I'm not sure what he's doing, but he's running, busy with some situation—"

"Of course he is."

"It sounds like he has a big lead as to what's been happening," I hurried on. "I think he's involved in some kind of chase, and—and he says that there is a ghost involved, and that we wouldn't be able to get to wherever he is in time to help."

Johnny interjected excitedly, "So it _is_ a ghost! I had been wondering if it was that old guy Joe that was—"

I shook my head at him slightly. _Just blend in with the furniture until Falcon gets here, Jaywalker._

He rolled his eyes, but kept silent. Ghoulmaster returned to his former position.

Just then Falcon ran through the door, turning into his bodily form and stopping at the far wall from momentum, lifting his hands to take the brunt of the impact. "He's long gone by now," he said breathlessly to the room. "I was right by the Big Wheel on my way back here, and when it went on, I saw only the back of him from my peripheral vision, and I knew that it would be my only ch—"

"Shadow." A soft voice, but firm.

Shadow Falcon turned abruptly, the excitement draining from his features when he saw the look of quiet determination on his leader's face. "Ghoulmaster…."

"You chose to communicate with Billasty instead of me. Perhaps because you did not want my opinion on what you should do in that situation."

"But did you really expect me to…" Falcon halted his sentence and met Ghoulmaster's gaze, his posture beginning to soften in resignation.

Ghoulmaster seemed to be the only one in the room at ease with the silence. He searched Falcon's face, finding a mixture of wariness, disappointment, and fear. He walked towards him and touched his arm lightly just above the elbow. "Go downstairs and wait for me there," he said gently.

Falcon turned immediately and obeyed, opening the door to the basement and disappearing from view. Ghoulmaster turned and addressed the rest of us. "When we come back, this incident will not be spoken of again." He joined Falcon walking down the steps, and shut the door behind him.

Annabel looked at me wide-eyed, an eyebrow raised. I put an arm around her and squeezed. The sound of footsteps receded, and we briefly heard muffled voices, followed by the swish and thud of Falcon's punishment.

"Oh, this is fantastic," Johnny muttered sarcastically. "This is what I've got to look forward to if I ever break curfew."

"Falcon's been here long enough to know what the risks of his behavior were," I responded. "Ghoulmaster's only got a few rules, and they're not difficult."

Chester flinched as the rhythmic impact continued, and started to sneeze. "I see both sides," he managed.

I attempted to mentally dissociate, but I worried for my friend. He wasn't a particularly prideful man, but I hoped he wouldn't feel any lingering embarrassment from this. I smiled despite myself as I remembered his stuffy entrance to the house all those years ago, the stiff politeness we all had to endure until we proved ourselves worthy of his trust. There was a danger that those barriers of his might go back up.

Footsteps climbed back up the stairs, and we all tried our best to appear disinterested. Ghoulmaster appeared, taking his seat, and Shadow Falcon stiffly closed the door and remained standing there, wiping sweat off his face with the end of his shirt. He blew his hair out of his eyes, and made eye contact with a few of us. Part of his punishment would be staying in his bodily form for the rest of the night along with the rest of us.

"Ghoulmaster has asked me to brief you all now," he began, his usually strong accent slightly dulled from the pain.

Chapter 5

"Three two one." I took a deep breath, attempting to utilize the hokey anger management technique that my sixth grade girlfriend taught me. "One two three." I let the breath out slowly. "What the heck is bothering me?" I paused after completing the rhyme in hopes that it would calm me down.

Then I whirled around, taking a menacing step toward Chester. "_You_! It's _you_ that's bothering me, Professor!"

"I just want to see that footage one more time, that's all!" Chester squeaked, taking an equal step backwards. "I could have sworn that a bag of chips moved an inch or two to the left!"

"Since you're required to stay in your body for three more hours, how about I find you a pile of books so you can resume your studies?" I sneered. "Try not to get another papercut."

Chester's eyes widened as he was reminded of his trauma, and he started to sneeze. I strode to the farthest corner of the room that the security camera would allow. I heard female voices choking with repressed laughter.

In my defense, we had been at this for most of the night, and the sun was now fully up. Not that we had anything better to do, or had any need for sleep, or food, or any other mortal pleasure that I would give up my entire afterlife existence to be able to experience just once more, but all seven of us were not used to staying in the same room together for hours on end. Falcon's briefing had not been overly informative; he saw someone from far away, obviously a male ghost, but the ghost had sensed his presence and had too much of a head start.

Elissa was right; the tapes were of horrible quality. I'd been surprised that such a large and lucrative company had bypassed so many upgrades, to which Elissa had responded, "Why not? They've always had you guys as their main security." We had been able to see limited activity, obviously supernatural, but had been able to come to no further conclusions since ghosts do not appear on cameras. So we knew that one or more ghosts were behind all this, but not who, why, or where they would strike next.

"I need to ask a favor of you all." We turned toward Ghoulmaster, surprised and wary. What kind of favor?

"It is included in everyone's contract that no one has to discuss any details of their past at any time. Yet…" Ghoulmaster looked pointedly at each of us. "You all will individually have to consider your histories and determine whether or not there is any information there that the group would benefit knowing about."

Annabel caught on. "You're wondering if the ghost out there is doing this because of a vendetta against one of us."

He returned her gaze. "Yes."

The room remained silent for several moments. Some looked uncomfortable, myself included. By definition every one of us had baggage, or we would not still be wandering this earth.

"Your faces give me my answer." Ghoulmaster stood up straighter. "Whoever has anything they would like to disclose to me can speak to me privately anytime before the park's opening this morning."

Each one of us spoke to him individually sometime that morning.

Chapter 6

An hour before the park's opening, Ghoulmaster addressed our group again. "Thank you all for volunteering personal information. I'll share details with the group if I feel that there's a need, but for now, we'll all stay focused and gather more clues. But we also need to consider another possibility, since it's highly unlikely that this is just a random douchebag."

We stayed still, no one questioning the obvious. Ghosts almost never fought over terrain, whether a person or place, to haunt or protect. It was generally a finders-keepers principle, for lack of a better phrase, as it was just too dangerous to make enemies and risk them searching for your…"belongings…" to send you on to the next realm. Ghosts had to remain within a relatively tight radius of their "belongings," so we knew that this ghost was risking a lot by keeping his in close proximity to seven angry fellow ghosts.

"Maybe someone is offended by us as a group," Ghoulmaster continued. "I wouldn't know why…or maybe somehow they're working with a mortal hunter"—a look of fear passed through his features at that possibility, in a rare moment of vulnerability. "I don't know why Six Flags Great Adventure would be such a hot spot that someone is willing to risk so much. Shadow…are you sure that there was nothing familiar about that ghost?" A brief, guarded look passed over Ghoulmaster's features, making me wonder if he knew of a possibility that he wasn't sharing with us.

Falcon frowned. "He was just too far away to tell. So you're thinking that this is someone that we all might kn—"

Before he could finish that thought, Elissa entered the room, attempting to slip in unnoticed while hiding the look of disgust on her face from our stench. She failed at both attempts. "Any updates?" the Madame said without preamble.

"No further mischief, which is a good thing. But…and I know you all don't want me beating around the bush, so I'll just say it…" Elissa shot Shadow Falcon an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Shadow, but since by your admission you were out and about the park at the exact time and location that the rides turned on last night…a lot of…well, most of the managers are thinking now that…" her thought trailed off.

Falcon remained standing stiffly with his arms crossed. He'd barely changed positions all night, probably from the lingering pain. His expression at hearing these words was hard to read but intense.

I saw different reactions around the room. Norma was impassive as usual, but Chester looked afraid, Annabel looked disappointed, and the Madame looked annoyed. Johnny spoke, lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, man…I really don't know you yet, and I don't mean to be disrespectful, but you really were there at the exact"—

Falcon's mouth dropped open slightly in surprise by this insinuation, but his features quickly turned to anger before Ghoulmaster stepped between them, facing Johnny. "None of that," he snapped harshly, lingering on Johnny before also looking at each person. "Shadow's behavior last night is now a fact that none of us will state an opinion on. We are all unquestioningly loyal to each member of this circle, and I make all decisions about who is and is not in this circle." His stare ended pointedly with me, and I saw the familiar clench of his jaw that meant determination. My shoulders slumped slightly, as I knew I wasn't innocent of judging present and former house members.

Ghoulmaster moved back to the side of the room, and Falcon quietly thanked him. Ghoulmaster pressed a hand on his shoulder briefly before turning around to face us all. I remembered Johnny's comment from two days ago, wondering and hoping that this group had a special connection. Falcon had made a mistake, Ghoulmaster had reminded him that he held a position of submission within the house, and the incident was considered done. In the crowd I associated with during my mortal life, people and their families had died for less.

"One more thing," Elissa hurried on, obviously uneasy. "I guess news must be slow these days, because the paparazzi has been having a field day with this. Some reporters think that this is some kind of publicity stunt. But it doesn't help that Halloween is coming up. A bunch of idiot paranormal investigators really, really want to check out this place with all their equipment. And they're willing to pay Six Flags very well. With the management now seriously questioning your gang's loyalty…they're certainly thinking about it. "

Every person in the room sat up a little straighter, eyes widening a little farther. What Elissa didn't know is that most of those investigators are hacks, but a few of them really know what they're doing, and some even have the knowledge to get involved.

"That cannot happen," Ghoulmaster stated vehemently. "We have to deal with this ourselves, and immediately." He glanced at the clock. "Obviously, we're not getting brownie points anymore for having an alibi. We all know what our stations are. Talk to each other, and talk to me. We will not meet again until we get to the bottom of this."

"And I will temporarily break my vow of silence." We turned to Norma in surprise, and nodded to her in gratitude.

Chapter 7

The next day moved agonizingly slowly, as there was little for us to do besides wait and watch. Madame Pestis and Johnny had been assigned to a full-time search for the unknown ghost's earthly remains. He would have to be pretty foolish to bring them into the park, so the two of them were starting in the parking lot and doing slow circles farther and farther outward. It would still be searching for a needle in a haystack, but we had to start somewhere. The ghost would anticipate this move and know that his days were numbered, but we still had to make sure that these little pranks didn't turn into anything more serious in the meantime.

Six of us were stationed throughout the park. Ghoulmaster patrolled Movietown, as that area included our residence and the stage where Dead Man's Party would begin. I had the entrance and the areas around Main Street, Shadow Falcon had the corner with Frontierland (the safari was still closed and the animals looked no better), Annabel had the corner with Kingda Ka and the new rides, Norma had walkways in the area of El Toro, and Chester of course had the kiddie rides and the surrounding areas. Hopefully he wouldn't get distracted going on the kiddie rides himself. Nothing, nothing, nothing must happen to the children.

I wondered where the "unsub" would strike next. First the free parking and directional signs, then minor malfunctions on the rides, then animals getting agitated, then the rides and music starting up after closing when there was still an audience in the parking lot. The animals may well have only been agitated from a spiritual presence here that they weren't familiar with. But only a couple species had been fidgety for a day when Johnny arrived here. All of these things seemed so trivial, almost immature. Such obvious attention-grabbing. But whose attention did he/they want to grab? For what? None of the seven of us knew a whole lot of people anymore, dead or undead, as evidenced by the fact that we all chose to protect an amusement park for the foreseeable afterlife. Were these occurrences meant to attract the attention of the humans, or us?

But human nature is nothing if not adaptable, and, in typical crowd mentality, the mortals appeared oblivious to the events of the last two days. I saw the mortals at their best and worst at the entrance to the park: irritated after waiting 45 minutes in the entrance line for the privilege of paying $65 a person to get in (just wait until they see the Flash Pass prices, or the fact that everyone now has to buy combo meals starting at $10.99 and can no longer buy fries or a burger just by itself), but those looks turn into the joy of possibilities, as they grab a map and run for their first ride. I didn't envy Annabel her position at the more popular rides, including Green Lantern and Superman, as those were obvious targets if more mischief were to occur, but I also figured that Main Street also had a big target on its back. It is probably the most densely populated area, and if anything happened at the gatekeeping center…no one would be able to get out.

I felt a sudden, much cooler gust of air, and noticed that the concession stand lines were getting longer. It was dinnertime, and still nothing. Frustrated, I began my rounds again, answering Ghoulmaster's telepathic question about everyone's status. 5:45 and all's well. The anticipation was almost unbearable.

I briefly left my post to help out with Dead Man's Party next door, as Ghoulmaster and I had agreed upon. Security was never sufficient there, and we usually prevented a few accidents or minor fights. I sent a gust of wind onto a nearby family with young children, and stood behind the mother, quite literally breathing down her neck. She felt a vague presence and decided to take everyone home. Good. Chills by day are appropriate for children, but not the fright by night.

I resumed my post and did an immediate walk-around, relieved to see everything as it had been. I relayed my status telepathically, as everyone else did. Ghoulmaster once again attempted to communicate telepathically to whatever ghost was out there, but received no response.

I climbed one of the Main Street posts for a bird's eye view. From over a loudspeaker I faintly heard, "One, Two, Three, let's fly," and a couple of fools were dropped from hundreds of feet in the air and left to swing back and forth until their momentum slowed them down. I gagged on my own decomposing flesh. I wouldn't do that ride even though I'm already dead.

I looked over to Bugs Bunny land and had a hunch.

_ Get off the kiddie ferris wheel, Professor._

_ Wha-? I'm up here for a higher vantage point! This will be the most targeted ride if something happens in my section, and I need to already be at the top to be of any use!_

I tuned out the rest of his speech, rolling my eyes, and then became aware of whispers quickly growing into a hum of human speech. I whipped my head around in alarm as a few shrieks started, then one longer scream.

The Main Street Fountain was having a problem.

Chapter 8

A strange, tar-like substance oozed out of the central valves of the fountain, which didn't stop thinner liquid from squirting out along the edges. The fountain also appeared to have gained some strength, as the black slime started spraying farther than would appear possible, spewing those closest to the fountain. Then it began spraying those standing farther out.

"Get back!" For once, the staff seemed to be on top of it. "It's not hurting you, so just step out of range!"

A disgusted, muffled scream could be heard from the nearby water fountain. A girl stood with her hands by her side, afraid to touch anything. Tears gathered in her eyes. Her mouth was partially filled with black, thick liquid, and it streamed from the sides of her mouth and down the front of her shirt.

Everything happened at once.

The many staff members always gathered at Main Street jumped in immediately, appearing to work well as a team. Two salespeople gave instructions to the girl, helping her rinse and spit with a drink from a concession stand, while others kept her family calm. A man began angrily arguing with other staff, assuming that the Fright Fest decorations had simply gone too far. And many, many, many pictures were taken, which would no doubt be all over the news and in the managers' offices.

I remembered my team. _Water fountains! Shut off the valves to all the water fountains in the park!_ I ordered them. I began to follow my own advice, too flustered to focus on answering the follow-up questions from my team.

It was only a few minutes before my orders were carried out. Fortunately, Six Flags had greatly reduced the number of working water fountains over the years, as they preferred the guests buying drinks from the concession stands. After my few fountains were off and I ascertained that the staff were still dealing with the situation as best they could, I began to focus on the reports from the others. They were all finished shortly before or after me, and wanted an explanation.

_There was some kind of black slime spraying from the Main Fountain and the water fountains. It got on people's clothes, and a security guard turned off the fountain soon afterwards. One girl ingested some of it by accident, but she looks okay now, just disgusted. I looked everywhere and didn't see the ghost. Did this happen anywhere else?_

One by one, they stated negative.

_Then it was just Main Street—conveniently where all the photographers were. Ghoulmaster, what should we do now?_

Silence followed my question. Come to think of it, he hadn't participated in this conversation at all.

_Ghoulmaster_? Chester's question was a lot more shaky and frightened than mine had been. No response.

_Billasty…_Falcon's voice was for mine alone. _You've been here longer than any of us. With Ghoulmaster unresponsive, you have to take command now._

I felt a pit of dread forming in my stomach. I had leadership capabilities, but I was totally unprepared for this. I forced myself to respond to everyone.

_Until Ghoulmaster responds or we find him, I will have to make decisions for the group. Chester and I will go to Movietown and make sure the water fountains are turned off, since we're the closest. The two of us will start looking for Ghoulmaster there, since that was his station. Johnny, I need you to come back to the park and help cover stations, since guest safety comes first. So Annabel, Falcon, Norma, and Johnny, you need to cover the park on a skeleton crew. Madame, I know it's unlikely, but we could really use those remains as soon as possible, and you're on your own to find them. Your crystal ball would sure come in handy right now._

_Okay, I'm trying my best out here! _I knew that my words had hurt her, and I instantly regretted them.

Chester and I met at Skull Mountain, and he started to sneeze from anxiety. We made short work of the few water fountains, and started at our house, then at the Dead Man's Party stage in our search for Ghoulmaster.

There were only so many places that a ghost could hide from other ghosts in Movietown, and I knew that Ghoulmaster would have died a thousand deaths before abandoning Six Flags Great Adventure. We ran through the Dark Knight and saw nothing, and ran through the crowds at the new $5-a-piece walkthrough attractions, finally ending up at the abandoned building around the corner from the Movietown attractions.

"I never got what this was," Chester remarked.

"They used to have shows here awhile back," I answered. "Shh—we're going in."

Utter darkness greeted us. Chester grabbed my elbow and I let him. Turning the corner, we saw a glow of light coming from a corner of the stage. Two figures hunched over it, speaking in low voices. I slowly crept closer, my heart in my throat, when Chester sneezed. The voices stopped.

"Chester!" I hissed in irritation. "Lamest possible giveaway!"

"Sorry—" he began, and was interrupted by, "No, no—come on in. We were expecting you." The voice sounded familiar.

We looked at each other, and cautiously approached the stage. Ghoulmaster sat on the left of the lantern, gazing downward distractedly. He wasn't restrained in any way. After ascertaining my leader's relative well-being, I turned to his counterpart—and gasped in surprise and anger.

"_Vincent_!" I exclaimed. With all our house meetings, and all my private musings, I should have considered that our perpetrator could be a former resident. Vincent Wolf Fang gazed at me over the dim light, his eyes piercing, a sad smile playing at the corner of his lips. I looked for Chester's reaction, and found him clutching his chest in a full-blown panic attack. I ignored him and faced our guest once more.

"Okay, I'll bite. Why?" I said bitterly, and heard the hurt in my own voice this time. Vincent had lived here since the beginning with Ghoulmaster, and had left several years ago for no exact reason stated then to keep wandering, searching for happiness. He had always been a negative, somewhat depressing person, but even looking back, he seemed perfectly loyal and trustworthy, someone that I had appreciated being on the same team with.

"Hello, Billasty. First things first. When are we finally going to invite the others?" He turned to Ghoulmaster.

"No," Ghoulmaster said softly, almost whispering. "We will hear what you have to say after the park closes. Guest safety comes first."

I looked back and forth between the both of them. "Vincent, people have left the house since you've been here. The only people that you would still know are…Shadow Falcon and Madame Yersinia. How about we call Falcon here and leave everyone else with the Madame to guard the park? Ghoulmaster?"

Ghoulmaster took a long time to answer. He eventually said, "Fine." He seemed like he was looking at something far away. I telepathically summoned Shadow Falcon.

"So Madame Pestis must be the lucky one chosen to search for my remains?" Wolf Fang asked pleasantly, a slight ironic smile on his face. "That's fine, she can join us later."

I didn't answer. "Are the guests safe, Vincent?"

"As I've said to your master so many times, yes. This was never about endangering the guests. This is something personal between me and Ghoulmaster."

"Where have you been?" I asked, unwilling to wait.

"Around. I did some soul-searching the past few years, pardon the pun, and did some research into my family history. I think I've finally figured out why so many of my family members linger here and don't pass on into the other world."

A low moan escaped from Ghoulmaster's lips, an eerie sound that I'd never heard from him. Shadow Falcon burst through the wall in record time and skidded to a halt, staring at Vincent Wolf Fang in utter shock.

"Join us," I said. "Now can we—"

"You found out," Ghoulmaster whispered in fear, his eyes slowly turning up to meet Vincent's.

Vincent met his gaze with a steely stoicism. "Yes."

Ghoulmaster wrapped his arms around himself, appearing to hug himself in a gesture wholly uncharacteristic of him.

"Found out what?" Chester gasped.

Vincent slowly stood up. He put his hands in his pockets and began to walk slowly back and forth. "Many, many years ago…I was born into a happy family, or at least certainly normal. We lived on a farm in the Midwest, barely eeking out a living, food on the table guaranteed only if we were having a good crop season. But that was okay, more or less—it's the American dream, right? My parents and I didn't have set working hours, so whenever chores were done, we spent a lot of happy hours together. As it would turn out, those were the happiest of my life. And afterlife."

I had heard a version of this story before, but not from him. The dread in the pit of my stomach was forming again.

"I was an older child when my siblings arrived, seven when my brother was born, and eight when my sister was born. From there, this might seem like the typical story: my parents unintentionally had a lot less time for me, my mother especially. Pretty soon she would mostly call my name only for help in taking care of the two of them. I knew I didn't love my little siblings as I should, and I felt guilty about that. Only later did I finally acknowledge my jealousy for the emotion that it was." Vincent paused and looked around the room, stopping at Ghoulmaster. Ghoulmaster looked paler than usual, still hugging himself in a gesture of miserable self-soothing.

"It may have been the typical older sibling jealousy story, but then it turned into the "typical" tragedy story," Vincent continued. "I was supposed to be watching my siblings while they played in the field. My five-year-old sister was restless and wanted to play tag, but I didn't want to, so she ended up running in circles around me and my brother. I never left her, but she was just too far away for me to prevent anything from happening. She was bitten by a snake. I heard her screams and immediately took her inside, where our father tried to suck out the poison. We thought it might have worked, but a couple of feverish hours later, knew for certain that it didn't."

Ghoulmaster's eyes appeared to shine in the light of the lantern, almost as if there was moisture there.

"I remember sitting in shock, staring at the wall as hours, then days, went by," Vincent recalled. "To their credit, my parents never said or even implied that they blamed me, although who knows what they thought. Some things in life aren't preventable, but when tragedy strikes, the finger-pointing isn't too far behind. My mother sobbed uncontrollably for a few days, and then took to her bed. My father didn't know how to handle her depression, and we saw less and less of him as he lost himself in the farm, now trying to support his family without any help. So it fell on my six-year-old brother to take care of me and my mother during our depression."

"For how long?" Falcon interjected.

"I don't know. I think it was a couple of weeks. Eventually I began to notice that my little brother was being forced to grow up far too quickly, and I forced myself to contribute more, a little at a time. I was getting more responsive to the outside world every day, and after a few days, was very relieved to see that my mother was too, but at a slower pace." Vincent appeared to look right through us, lost in his reverie. "I thought that even though I would live with guilt the rest of my life, a mother's grief was greater, but she would eventually come back to us with a few scars. On good days, she would hold me and my brother in bed with her, telling us stories, even giving us strained smiles occasionally. She told us that we would all get through this together, and gave us visions of how we would eventually be a happy family again.

"That's why it was all the more painful for us when she relapsed. I remember thinking that it came out of the clear blue sky. She continued to speak positively, but I could tell that it was more and more forced, and her physical symptoms returned with a vengeance. I remember sweat poring off her face, her disposition in exact contrast to the hopeful words she would say. Her time with me and my brother became more frantic, more intense. I think she knew that her time was at an end. Only several weeks after my sister died, my mother joined her, from a broken heart."

Ghoulmaster rose and stood where he was, a more focused, determined look on his face.

"And that's what I went through my entire life and afterlife believing," Vincent finished calmly, looking at our leader. "Right, Ghoulmaster?"

Silence.

"I will give you one last chance to finally tell me the truth from your own lips. Is that an accurate interpretation of what happened, "Ghoulmaster?"" Vincent said harshly, a slight sneer on his face.

The room was silent as we waited for a response. Ghoulmaster took a step forward. "You do well not to refer to me by my birth name, Brother," he said softly. "That identity of mine died the day our mother died."

Chapter 9

Three pairs of shocked eyes whipped from Ghoulmaster to Vincent, desperately trying to comprehend. My head swam.

"I liked it when she was sick," Ghoulmaster said bluntly, looking at each of us in turn. "I liked it a lot. I was finally the only person in the house who could really help her. When she started getting better, I knew that it was because of my caregiving, and mine alone. Even when you started helping, Vinnie, you couldn't really help her, because I thought then that you had caused her grief. She had to comfort you instead.

"But then she started talking about getting out of bed, about getting back to normal life, as if life could ever be normal again. Were we really going to just go back to how we were, minus one? Didn't she need me any more? Why did these days of taking care of her, of her holding us, have to end? If I could nurse her back to health once, I could do it again. And again. As many times as she needed."

"Homemade poison," Vincent flatly clarified to our group.

Ghoulmaster snapped to attention. "I swear to you, Vincent, I meant only to keep her sick, not to kill her," he said intensely, taking another step forward.

"Munchausen by proxy," Chester said in horror.

"I don't care what psychological term it is!" Vincent yelled suddenly, causing me to flinch. "I spent my entire existence, my entire non-existence, thinking that I was responsible for _two_ deaths! I spent all this time depressed, when I should have been mad as hell!"

"I couldn't bear to lose both her and you. Everyone knew of your crime, or lack of crime, whereas I have never received absolution," Ghoulmaster responded heavily, taking three more steps to close the distance between him and his brother. My breath caught in my throat as Ghoulmaster dropped first to one knee, then to two, in front of his brother, gripping either side of Vincent's belt in an intimate gesture. "And finally, here I kneel: begging, pleading for your forgiveness."

Vincent instinctually stepped back, pushing Ghoulmaster's hands off him in surprise. "What?" he hissed. "How can you put this on my shoulders? How can you make this about you?"

"The day our mother died was the day I followed the chain from our farmhouse, up the mountain, and down to the underworld, and gave away my existence for the worthless entity that it is," Ghoulmaster said intensely from his position of supplication. "If you forgive me, you will be free, as you never committed any offense in the first place."

"You took away what I loved most in the world, as I have now taken what you love most in the world," Vincent responded hotly. "You will now be required to take your remains and leave this park. There's no way the mortals will tolerate your presence now. And now your friends, the people who respected and revered you, know as much of your full story as I do, even though I originally agreed to make up my own story and never speak of our shared past."

"Your friends too, not so long ago," I contributed, and was rewarded with a brief wary glance.

"We still respect Ghoul—" Chester began, but I shook my head at him.

Ghoulmaster was on his knees, an expression of unspeakable pain on his face, when Madame Pestis burst through the wall, holding a small box. "I heard from the others where you were," she said hurriedly, and stopped abruptly to gawk at Vincent.

"Thanks for welcoming me home," Vincent addressed her. "Go ahead and give my remains to your master."

Madame Pestis looked uncertainly at Ghoulmaster.

"Where were they?" Falcon asked.

"At the top of one of the water slides at Hurricane Harbor, safe from the guests since it's closed for the season," she responded, a hint of surprise in her voice.

Falcon slowly turned to Vincent. "Not a very difficult hiding spot," he remarked.

Vincent swallowed, a look of fear briefly passing across his features. "Stand up," he ordered Ghoulmaster, who complied. "My work here at Six Flags is done. You have the power. You've always had the power. Over all of the ghosts under your command, over this park, over our family, and over me, both in life and in death. So, what you're going to do, do it quickly, and end this."

Eyes widened in comprehension, and Ghoulmaster strode forward, gripping Vincent's shoulders tightly and shaking him once. "I will not burn your remains, Brother!" he shouted in rage.

"You burned them a long time ago!" Vincent shouted in return, eyes blazing. "You finished me in life, now you can finish me in death!"

"Give that box back to Vincent," Ghoulmaster growled to Madame Pestis, turning on his brother in fury. "I have no power at this moment. All I can do is beg for your forgiveness, although I will never forgive myself."

Madame Pestis began to move toward the stage, frantically assessing what do with the box. Shadow Falcon and Chester fidgeted awkwardly, wondering if they should get involved. My nonbeating heart in my throat, I impulsively stepped onto the stage, yanking Ghoulmaster's chain from around his belt loops and wrapping it around Vincent Wolf Fang. He yelled in surprise, thinking I was attacking him, but I stepped back and put my hands up.

"I'm just helping you follow through on your decision, Vincent," I said calmly. "This is the chain that my master chose to wrap around himself, and it appears that you are choosing to wrap one around yourself as well. It's just a different chain than the one you carried up until now."

He stared at me with an expression of perplexity. He looked at Ghoulmaster, his shoulders beginning to slump. "This is not how I thought you would react, Peter," he said softly.

Ghoulmaster flinched. "I like to think that I've changed," he responded. "But that is no excuse for what I did, even for a six-year-old boy. Think of other, better moments that we have shared, and think better of me. I'm…I am sorry for what I did, and I'm sorry that I was too cowardly to tell you the truth."

Vincent's anger was wavering, replaced by exhaustion. "But I…" he paced angrily. He glared at Ghoulmaster…"And you…then you…" he jerked a hand through his short hair. "But if I forgive you…" his voice broke and his vision swam with unshed tears.

"This will be the hardest thing you have ever done," Falcon said gently.

Vincent looked from one of us to the next, his expression conflicted, and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. "I…" he began, and never finished. The outline of his body quickly thinned in front of us, and he disappeared from our vision. The box of his remains fell from Madame Prestis's hands and clattered to the floor, now empty.

"He has no more unfinished business," Falcon said quietly.

"I will never see him again." Ghoulmaster sat hard on the floor. "Please, please leave me," he choked huskily, and we did.

Chapter 10

"So how did this Vincent Wolf Fang find out the true story of what happened?" Johnny asked excitedly, always one for a true crime story.

Chester opened his mouth to answer, and then closed it with a frown. "I have no idea," he admitted.

"Some things can just stay buried," Falcon added.

Annabel, Norma, and Johnny had joined us back at the house, after we had told them telepathically that the danger had passed. Johnny especially seemed a little sulky that he had missed all the action. I hoped that Ghoulmaster would approve of my, Chester, and Shadow Falcon's decision to disclose everything. We had all agreed that we did not want to live in a house where half of us knew this secret and the other half didn't.

Ghoulmaster arrived wearily shortly after the park closed, sinking down into one of the couches and closing his eyes. He had gone through this grieving process when his brother had died the first time, and now he would have to go through it again. But who knew where Vincent had really gone, and who knew if or when Ghoulmaster would see him again? Forever was a long time.

We all gave a startled response as Elissa breezed in cheerfully, as we had all completely forgotten our nightly meeting with her. "Come on, you guys!" she called out pleasantly. We all changed into our bodily forms, Falcon wincing as his pain returned. Annabel snickered and Falcon swatted her in return.

I don't know if others had momentarily forgotten our public relations with Six Flags management, but I had. "Oh, no, we've still got a problem," I groaned with my head in my hand.

"Well, that's what I was coming to talk to you about," Elissa responded lightly.

Annabel cocked an eyebrow at her. "Oh?"

"Thanks, Norma, for telling me just before the board meeting tonight that everything was taken care of regarding these occurrences. I know that was risky with the park still open," she began.

I, for one, cocked an eyebrow at that. Norma had chosen a good time and occasion to force herself to speak.

"It was a hard sell convincing them that the happenings would stop, and that you guys had been the ones to put a stop to them," she said. "So, a condition of our compromise is that nothing else must happen in the next two weeks in order for them to consider my idea."

"Your idea?" Chester said with trepidation.

"Well, the next order of business was figuring out how to respond to the reporters. I told them that the paparazzi believed that one of two things were going on: either something supernatural, or some kind of publicity stunt. Going off their beliefs, it would be easiest to convince them that something supernatural was _not_ going on if it were, indeed, a publicity stunt. But the question would be, a publicity stunt for _what_? What event would be so big, during Fright Fest, that Six Flags management would risk a bad reputation to promote it?" She gave a sly grin and tucked her hair behind her ear. "With your permission, of course, Ghoulmaster. But without it…I'd hate to see you all in danger of the paranormal investigators coming in."

Ghoulmaster was not in the mood, but he was listening. "Permission for what?"

Elissa leaned back and crossed her legs, enjoying her moment of triumph. "Rehearsals," she answered. She wrinkled her nose. "And a whole lot of Lysol."

Chapter 11

Lady Gaga blasted in the background as I gave my entrance on opening night, shuffling down the stairs and shrugging out of my coat. I heard female voices screaming, squealing my name as they once had during my mortal life, and I swelled with pride. My friends joined me as we all danced in sync, Ghoulmaster following us with his chain.

The filled auditorium laughed as they heard the story of Chester's demise, and shuddered when they heard only the basics of how Ghoulmaster came to be the way he is today. I had no idea that we all could dance so well after only a few weeks of rehearsals. I knew that Raven would be beating down the door to renew his contract when he heard of this strange new relationship we had with our beloved amusement park.

"This is Halloween," my master lip synced as he played out a scene with a screen in the background. Yes, this is Halloween. The one time of the year when the mortal and the immortal can both pretend to be someone they're not. "Is it scary for you, babe?" Yes, this season may be scary to the mortals, but also to the undead who wander, purposeless. Thank you, humans, for giving us that purpose for one month out of the year. "Too bad, too bad," for the baggage that we all carry with us, but I am now certain that people can change.

An idiotic grin pasted itself to my face as we took our final bow, amid screaming applause. We couldn't even wait a few minutes to start communicating with each other.

_They loved us! We'll definitely be able to come back next year!_

_ Maybe we should make a DVD!_

_ Should we do something in addition for our final show?_

Why not? If even death had not stopped each of us, then this was only the beginning.

_*We'll see you in your dreams*_


End file.
